Sweet heart parrot fish issues

[CosmicAshhole]

Hello!  I'm newish to fishkeeping/tanks.  My parents have a 55 gallon fresh water tank with a couple of Sweet Heart Parrot Fish... They didnt know the awfulness of what happens to those fish when they got them... But they are loved.  One of them, however, has been basically laying at the bottom of the tank on her side bouncing around.  She can swim when she wants to, but doesn't seem to want to often.  She eats the blood worms, peas, food...but just lays there seemingly gasping for air.  I've done a water test and the PH/Nitrite/Ammonia/Nitrates are fine... we've treated her with Maracyn Two, Ich-X, & Paragard.  NOTHING seems to be helping her.  I have her in a hospital tank right now while I try and figure this out.  She doesn't seem to be getting any better.   Any ideas?

I don't have pictures right now, as they are at my parents house (the second one is perfectly fine, by the way)...but I can get some later. 🙂

 

Thanks for any help! 

[Colu]

It could be swim bladder problem i wouldn't feed for a couple of days and  add aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons after a couple of days  start feeding peas some swim bladder problems are caused by a bacterial infection if the salt doesn't work try maracyn as it could be a gram positive bacterial infection

[CosmicAshhole]

Thank you! I ran out and got aquarium salt and fully cleaned the hospital tank. It is primed and dosed with salt. Fingers crossed. 

[CosmicAshhole]

Sooo, still no improvement on the parrot fish.   Any other ideas?  Should I try Artemiss? 

[Colu]

I would treat with maracyn or kanaplex you could try artemiss am not sure how effective that med is

[CosmicAshhole]

2 minutes ago, Colu said:

I would treat with maracyn or kanaplex you could try artemiss am not sure how effective that med is

We've done Maracyn 2-3 times now. No improvement. I'll look for kanaplex. 

[Colu]

Kanaplex treats gram negative bacterial infection and it's a more powerful antibiotic

[CosmicAshhole]

Kanaplex 3 x did not help.  I'm totally at a loss. 

[CosmicAshhole]

11 minutes ago, Joe L. said:

Mind if I throw my hat in the ring. As you know, blood parrots are a hybrid, so that could be a contributing factor. Mixed genetics could lead to an overall weaker immune system. At this point, I can see that you have tried basically every medication on the market. IMO, doing nothing at this point is better than doing anything. Excess medications can actually hurt the immune system, since Blood Parrots already have weak immune systems, I would try to keep them healthy.  

Dang.  I will get her out of the hospital tank and back into the big one with her friend.  The other one is completely healthy.  She still eats, and swims around occasionally but its so heart breaking to see her just laying there all the time.  She's my parents fish and I had no idea they were hybrids until these issues started coming up and I learned about them.

 

Thank you for the information. 🙂